HMS Aurora (12)

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
Aurora served with the <a href="/facts/Home_Fleet/yeX0fq8c">Home Fleet</a> from completion as <a href="/facts/Rear_Admiral_(D)/Vd9RR8rf">Rear Admiral (D)</a>. In September 1939 she was with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, escorting convoys to <a href="/facts/Scandinavia/KpLQ40kl">Scandinavia</a> and engaged in the hunt for the German <a href="/facts/Battleship/PjjTspo5">battleships</a> <a href="/facts/German_battleship_Scharnhorst/cwcRgWrw">Scharnhorst</a> and <a href="/facts/German_battleship_Gneisenau/H5UJMM0y">Gneisenau</a>. From October 1940 she was commanded by Captain <a href="/facts/William_Gladstone_Agnew/YacytLop">William Gladstone Agnew</a>. After the <a href="/facts/Norwegian_Campaign/EJ8fCV4B">Norwegian Campaign</a> she participated in the operations hunting the German battleship <a href="/facts/German_battleship_Bismarck/lMbNPFNw">Bismarck</a> and, with the cruiser <a href="/facts/HMS_Kenya/ALyoQmyW">Kenya</a>, intercepted one of the German supply ships, Belchen, on 3 June 1941.

Between July and August 1941, as part of <a href="/facts/Force_K/QVffoq67">Force K</a> with the <a href="/facts/Home_Fleet/yeX0fq8c">Home Fleet</a>, she was involved in operations to <a href="/facts/Spitzbergen/7Q2MHDKp">Spitzbergen</a> and <a href="/facts/Bear_Island_(Norway)/8StsFosR">Bear Island</a> (<a href="/facts/Operation_Gauntlet/fVhVt05I">Operation Gauntlet</a>). After one of these sorties, in company with the cruiser <a href="/facts/HMS_Nigeria_(60)/TmYzLxbD">Nigeria</a>, she intercepted a German troop convoy off <a href="/facts/Northern_Norway/gjr3JKAq">Northern Norway</a>, and the German <a href="/facts/German_training_ship_Bremse/n7exV7lk">Bremse</a> was sunk. In the autumn she was transferred to the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Theatre_of_World_War_II/lcA8jpD1">Mediterranean</a> and arrived in <a href="/facts/Malta/FsqM3M37">Malta</a> on 21 October 1941 to join a new Force K.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a>
On 9 November 1941 leading Force K, consisting of <a href="/facts/HMS_Penelope_(97)/a4nraXC5">HMS Penelope</a>, <a href="/facts/HMS_Lance_(G87)/1KGmgvMN">HMS Lance</a> and <a href="/facts/HMS_Lively_(G40)/khmdjEdB">HMS Lively</a>, she was involved in <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Duisburg_Convoy/JbU2KjJ3">the destruction of the Beta Convoy</a>. In the resulting battle the <a href="/facts/Italian_destroyer_Fulmine_(1931)/YzLNpgQd">Italian destroyer Fulmine</a> was sunk, as well as the German transports Duisburg and San Marco, the Italian transports Maria, Sagitta and Rina Corrado, and the Italian Conte di Misurata and Minatitlan. The Italian destroyers <a href="/facts/Italian_destroyer_Grecale/9uMRWRoN">Grecale</a> and <a href="/facts/Italian_destroyer_Euro_(1927)/uYM0EN1g">Euro</a> were damaged.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a>
On 24 November Force K, made up of the British light cruisers Aurora and Penelope and the destroyers Lance and Lively, intercepted an Axis convoy about 100 nautical miles west of <a href="/facts/Crete/VSqxTU9u">Crete</a>. The Axis convoy was bound from the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean</a> to <a href="/facts/Benghazi/10pderw0">Benghazi</a>. The two German transports in the convoy, Maritza and Procida were both sunk by HMS Penelope and HMS Lively despite the presence of the Italian torpedo boats <a href="/facts/Italian_torpedo_boat_Lupo/dXdwEwHB">Lupo</a> and <a href="/facts/Spica-class_torpedo_boat/9htlcEEC">Cassiopea</a>.
On 1 December 1941 Force K with HMS Penelope and HMS Lively attacked the Mantovani Convoy. The Italian destroyer <a href="/facts/Italian_destroyer_Alvise_Da_Mosto/asGpThSS">Alvise Da Mosto</a> and the sole cargo ship Mantovani were sunk.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>
HMS Aurora also participated in the <a href="/facts/First_Battle_of_Sirte/3lkkfFdd">First Battle of Sirte</a> on 17 December 1941. On 19 December while steaming off <a href="/facts/Tripoli,_Libya/sIofmflD">Tripoli</a> she was heavily damaged in a mine field and was forced to retire to Malta.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>
After her return to the Mediterranean she joined <a href="/facts/Force_H/rLYVT87Y">Force H</a>, and in November was part of the Centre Task Force for the Landings in North Africa, <a href="/facts/Operation_Torch/7jNrT1Sd">Operation Torch</a>. Off <a href="/facts/Oran/TQaLn6EQ">Oran</a>, she engaged the <a href="/facts/Vichy_France/7wTyYUnW">Vichy French</a> destroyers <a href="/facts/French_destroyer_Tramontane/mHoBR7LE">Tramontane</a> and <a href="/facts/French_destroyer_Tornade/gfAJjLcm">Tornade</a> on 8 November 1942, sinking the latter and damaging the former so badly that she had to be beached. The following day she badly damaged the <a href="/facts/Destroyer/bkYL7bI8">destroyer</a> <a href="/facts/Aigle-class_destroyer/yzHg6hrL">Épervier</a> and drove her ashore. By December she was operating as part of <a href="/facts/List_of_task_forces_of_the_Royal_Navy/uoI1Kldn">Force Q</a> at <a href="/facts/B%C3%B4ne/kwJaR6IQ">Bône</a> against the <a href="/facts/Axis_powers/Q3z1D8R9">Axis</a> evacuation and supply convoys between <a href="/facts/Trapani/3wUqjPlw">Trapani</a> and <a href="/facts/Tunis/nmKNnW85">Tunis</a>.
Then, as a unit of the 15th Cruiser Squadron, she participated in the <a href="/facts/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily/nN55UqQ7">invasion of Sicily</a> and the <a href="/facts/Salerno_landings/PRtFEx90">Salerno landings</a> (Operation Avalanche) before moving into the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean</a> in October 1943. While escorting British destroyers reinforcing troops on the island of <a href="/facts/Leros/9lRCSK2o">Leros</a> on 30 October, she was attacked by German Junkers Ju 87 and Ju 88 aircraft off <a href="/facts/Castellorizo/ws3zbHJu">Castellorizo</a>, sustaining a 500 kg bomb hit abaft the after funnel. The explosion and subsequent fire killed 47 crew. Aurora was forced to withdraw to <a href="/facts/Taranto/TyJDvBep">Taranto</a> for repairs which lasted until April 1944.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> In August 1944 she was at the <a href="/facts/Operation_Dragoon/rXb1fUMh">landings in the south of France</a>, then returned to the Aegean, where she assisted in the liberation of <a href="/facts/Athens/mBxlp8X1">Athens</a>. One notable member of crew was the actor <a href="/facts/Kenneth_More/C1Kkshk2">Kenneth More</a>, who used his theatre skills in his role as 'action broadcaster' to describe to the crew below decks via the public address system what was happening when the ship was in action.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>

<h3>Chinese service</h3>
After the war Aurora was sold on 19 May 1948 to the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_China_Navy/q2lzNyPB">Chinese Navy</a> as compensation for six Chinese <a href="/facts/Customs/dLBa0dlN">custom</a> <a href="/facts/Patrol_ship/Kg8FUMs2">patrol ships</a> and one <a href="/facts/Cargo_ship/G7JSpeMc">cargo ship</a> that the British seized in <a href="/facts/British_Hong_Kong/afn3uHMz">Hong Kong</a> and lost during the war. She was renamed Chung King, after the Chinese war time capital of Chung King (<a href="/facts/Chongqing/TdWVCCKY">Chongqing</a>), and became the flagship of the Republic of China Navy under the command of Captain <a href="/facts/Deng_Zhaoxiang/T4Au9f2n">Deng Zhaoxiang</a>. <a href="/facts/Chiang_Kai-shek/dXkvQU17">Chiang Kai-shek</a> spent time on the ship observing the worsening military situation at some points.

<h3>Mutiny and Communist service</h3>
The crew was not content after not having been paid since December 1948, when the ship itself was assigned to guard $500,000 in silver dollars, and planned a mutiny for weeks. On 24 February 1949 the mutineers found out that their plan had been discovered, opened up the small arms locker, and took over the ship. They forced the captain to the bridge, and threatened to blow up the ship if he didn't get the ship underway. At 0300 on 25 February, Captain Deng relented, and set sail with darkened lights. After announcing to the full crew that they intended to defect to the <a href="/facts/Communist_Party_of_China/MwS3Togt">Communists</a> with the ship, an anti-revolution group formed and threatened to retake the ship. The ship arrived at <a href="/facts/Yantai/hRJtKjVE">Yantai</a> and the silver was distributed amongst the crew, staving off the counter rebellion. Once in Yantai, however, local Communist authorities were needed to put down the counter rebellion.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> The ship moved to Huludao Harbor after being spotted by Nationalist reconnaissance aircraft, and on 21 March 1949 she was sunk in Huludao harbour by Nationalist aircraft. She was later salvaged with Soviet assistance but then stripped bare as "repayment". The original engines were sent to the Shanghai Department of Electricity, and were replaced with engines from the scuttled coastal defence ship <a href="/facts/Chinese_cruiser_Hai_Yung/zRztWwph">Hai Yung</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> The PLAN considered refitting the ship along the lines of the <a href="/facts/Anshan-class_destroyer/D8m3Drxl">Anshan-class destroyers</a> they had received, with an armament of 4 <a href="/facts/B-2LM/hncgV07N">B-2LM</a> turrets and 8 twin 57mm, but these plans were still too expensive, so the empty hulk spent the rest of her life as an accommodation and warehouse ship, being subsequently renamed Huang He (<a href="/facts/Yellow_River/LajkLtUU">Yellow River</a>) in 1959, when it was transferred to Shanghai on 27 October of that year to be converted to a salvage ship at a planned budget of 3 million <a href="/facts/Renminbi/513xLnrK">¥</a>. After spending 276,000 ¥, the conversion project was cancelled, and the ship was once again transferred, this time to <a href="/facts/Tianjin/XtlF4hX1">Tianjin</a> in June 1965, used as a barracks ship and renamed Pei Ching. She was scrapped at some point during the <a href="/facts/Cultural_Revolution/1EAQGgYk">Cultural Revolution</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> Her name tablet and ship's bell were preserved in the <a href="/facts/Military_Museum_of_the_Chinese_People%27s_Revolution/Aft7GRhn">Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>

<h2 id="commanding-officers">Commanding officers</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Louis_Hamilton_(Royal_Navy_officer)/YISjp34R">L. H. K. Hamilton</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/William_Gladstone_Agnew/YacytLop">William Gladstone Agnew</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Robert_Sherbrooke/Pj4J7Llj">Robert Sherbrooke</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Deng_Zhaoxiang/T4Au9f2n">Deng Zhaoxiang</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="footnotes">Footnotes</h2>

<ul><li>Caruana, Joseph (2006). "The Demise of Force "K"". Warship International. XLIII (1): 99–111. <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0043-0374">0043-0374</a>.</li>
<li>Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62.</li>
<li>Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-85177-146-7.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Norman_Friedman/xXIfSk4w">Friedman, Norman</a> (2010). British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-59114-078-8.</li>
<li>Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1980). British Cruisers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-87021-922-7.</li>
<li>Swanson, Bruce (1982). Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: a History of China's Quest for Seapower. Annapolis, MD: Naval Inst. Press. pp. 179–182. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-87021-177-5.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Michael_J._Whitley/0VbcYV2G">Whitley, M. J.</a> (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-86019-874-0.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Aurora (12).

<ul><li><a href="http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4008.html">HMS Aurora at Uboat.net</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Our Name Wasn't Written – a Malta Memoir, Caroline Vernon, Canberra, 1992, p37 ISBN 0-646-07198-X <a href="/wiki/Caroline_Vernon" target="_blank">/wiki/Caroline_Vernon</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"Struggle for the Middle Sea", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009, p 143-147 ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3. <a href="/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press" target="_blank">/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">"Struggle for the Middle Sea", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009, p 150-152 ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3. <a href="/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press" target="_blank">/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">"Struggle for the Middle Sea", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009, p 155-159 ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3. <a href="/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press" target="_blank">/wiki/Naval_Institute_Press</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">"HMS Aurora, British light cruiser, WW2". <a href="http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Aurora.htm" target="_blank">http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Aurora.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">"Kenneth More, 67 CBE (1914-1982) actor". YouTube. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQPBb7d6L4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQPBb7d6L4</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Swanson, Bruce (1982). Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: a History of China's Quest for Seapower. Annapolis, MD: Naval Inst. Press. pp. 179–182. ISBN 978-0-87021-177-5. <a href="978-0-87021-177-5" target="_blank">978-0-87021-177-5</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Chinese Naval History Research Association, ed. (2013). "Chongqing's Uprising". Modern Ships (11b): 62. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"Plates of Cruiser Chongqing". Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. Retrieved 4 August 2022. <a href="http://eng.jb.mil.cn/Collections/Cultural_1/Liberation/202005/t20200521_45733.html" target="_blank">http://eng.jb.mil.cn/Collections/Cultural_1/Liberation/202005/t20200521_45733.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

HMS Aurora (12) open-in-new

HMS Aurora (12)